Meet Helena, creative freelancer and vinyasa yoga teacher in training. Helena is just finishing up her training at Yoga London and needed some fresh images for social media and her new website. I am most well known for my outdoor photography, but Helena was keen for an indoor shoot which was more reflective of her yoga practice. Luckily she managed to find this amazing space for our photoshoot at The Frame, Shoreditch, where she used to practice regularly.

The Brief

Helena had seen the indoor photoshoot I did with Helen (of Stretch London) last year and that served as a starting point for our session. Helena particularly loved the raw, stripped back vibe of that previous shoot and so we looked to recreate something equally moody with plenty of atmospheric black and white imagery, as well as both wide and tight shots for variety. Helena works with images herself in her creative work so knew exactly what she wanted (and how important photos are in creating a brand and profile) - I really loved working with a client with such a clear vision, and hopefully I managed to create something which fitted the brief as well as being uniquely her.

Indoor yoga photography in London

Indoor photoshoots can be challenging, especially in an unfamiliar space working solely with natural light. We got lucky with a beautiful sunlit day in early May which flooded this gorgeous studio space with warm soft light. We made the most of the exposed brickwork, as well as shooting backlit against the windows for a different look. There were elements which seemed almost Japanese, with the bamboo wallpaper panel and yellowed window panes - as well as Helena's Dharma Bum stork leggings!

Preparing for a yoga shoot

As always I advise clients to get the most out of their shoot by considering what look they want to achieve and preparing a shot list of images we can use as an aide-mémoire during the shoot itself - it is so easy to go blank in the moment! It’s really important to choose poses that are reflective of your practice (especially as a yoga teacher), rather than trying to achieve “advanced” poses - here we focused on dynamic standing poses and arm balances, rather than backbends or inversions. It's also essential not to forget about taking some headshots - potential clients want to get a feel for who you are as much as they want to see you "doing yoga". I think I love the soft black and white portraits we created more than anything else!